Ion Channels Expression and Function Are Strongly Modified in Solid Tumors and Vascular Malformations
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Activity-Dependent Modulation of Neuronal Sodium Channel Expression Joshua Peter Klein Yale University
Yale University EliScholar – A Digital Platform for Scholarly Publishing at Yale Yale Medicine Thesis Digital Library School of Medicine 5-2004 Activity-dependent modulation of neuronal sodium channel expression Joshua Peter Klein Yale University. Follow this and additional works at: http://elischolar.library.yale.edu/ymtdl Part of the Medicine and Health Sciences Commons Recommended Citation Klein, Joshua Peter, "Activity-dependent modulation of neuronal sodium channel expression" (2004). Yale Medicine Thesis Digital Library. 2198. http://elischolar.library.yale.edu/ymtdl/2198 This Open Access Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the School of Medicine at EliScholar – A Digital Platform for Scholarly Publishing at Yale. It has been accepted for inclusion in Yale Medicine Thesis Digital Library by an authorized administrator of EliScholar – A Digital Platform for Scholarly Publishing at Yale. For more information, please contact [email protected]. ACTIVITY-DEPENDENT MODULATION OF NEURONAL SODIUM CHANNEL EXPRESSION A Dissertation Presented to the Faculty of the Graduate School of Yale University in Candidacy for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy by Joshua Peter Klein Dissertation Director: Stephen G. Waxman, M.D.,Ph.D. May, 2004 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. ACTiViTY-DEPENDENT MODULATION OF NEURONAL SODIUM CHANNEL EXPRESSION Joshua Peter Klein 2004 ABSTRACT Action potentials initiate via the voltage-dependent opening of plasma membrane-associated sodium channels. The number and type of sodium channels in a neuronal membrane determine the quantity of sodium current that results from a given stimulus. The expression of sodium channels in neurons is plastic, and is not only altered by injury and disease, but also by subtle changes in physiologic environment. -
Viewed Under 23 (B) Or 203 (C) fi M M Male Cko Mice, and Largely Unaffected Magni Cation; Scale Bars, 500 M (B) and 50 M (C)
BRIEF COMMUNICATION www.jasn.org Renal Fanconi Syndrome and Hypophosphatemic Rickets in the Absence of Xenotropic and Polytropic Retroviral Receptor in the Nephron Camille Ansermet,* Matthias B. Moor,* Gabriel Centeno,* Muriel Auberson,* † † ‡ Dorothy Zhang Hu, Roland Baron, Svetlana Nikolaeva,* Barbara Haenzi,* | Natalya Katanaeva,* Ivan Gautschi,* Vladimir Katanaev,*§ Samuel Rotman, Robert Koesters,¶ †† Laurent Schild,* Sylvain Pradervand,** Olivier Bonny,* and Dmitri Firsov* BRIEF COMMUNICATION *Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology and **Genomic Technologies Facility, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland; †Department of Oral Medicine, Infection, and Immunity, Harvard School of Dental Medicine, Boston, Massachusetts; ‡Institute of Evolutionary Physiology and Biochemistry, St. Petersburg, Russia; §School of Biomedicine, Far Eastern Federal University, Vladivostok, Russia; |Services of Pathology and ††Nephrology, Department of Medicine, University Hospital of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland; and ¶Université Pierre et Marie Curie, Paris, France ABSTRACT Tight control of extracellular and intracellular inorganic phosphate (Pi) levels is crit- leaves.4 Most recently, Legati et al. have ical to most biochemical and physiologic processes. Urinary Pi is freely filtered at the shown an association between genetic kidney glomerulus and is reabsorbed in the renal tubule by the action of the apical polymorphisms in Xpr1 and primary fa- sodium-dependent phosphate transporters, NaPi-IIa/NaPi-IIc/Pit2. However, the milial brain calcification disorder.5 How- molecular identity of the protein(s) participating in the basolateral Pi efflux remains ever, the role of XPR1 in the maintenance unknown. Evidence has suggested that xenotropic and polytropic retroviral recep- of Pi homeostasis remains unknown. Here, tor 1 (XPR1) might be involved in this process. Here, we show that conditional in- we addressed this issue in mice deficient for activation of Xpr1 in the renal tubule in mice resulted in impaired renal Pi Xpr1 in the nephron. -
Upregulation of Peroxisome Proliferator-Activated Receptor-Α And
Upregulation of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-α and the lipid metabolism pathway promotes carcinogenesis of ampullary cancer Chih-Yang Wang, Ying-Jui Chao, Yi-Ling Chen, Tzu-Wen Wang, Nam Nhut Phan, Hui-Ping Hsu, Yan-Shen Shan, Ming-Derg Lai 1 Supplementary Table 1. Demographics and clinical outcomes of five patients with ampullary cancer Time of Tumor Time to Age Differentia survival/ Sex Staging size Morphology Recurrence recurrence Condition (years) tion expired (cm) (months) (months) T2N0, 51 F 211 Polypoid Unknown No -- Survived 193 stage Ib T2N0, 2.41.5 58 F Mixed Good Yes 14 Expired 17 stage Ib 0.6 T3N0, 4.53.5 68 M Polypoid Good No -- Survived 162 stage IIA 1.2 T3N0, 66 M 110.8 Ulcerative Good Yes 64 Expired 227 stage IIA T3N0, 60 M 21.81 Mixed Moderate Yes 5.6 Expired 16.7 stage IIA 2 Supplementary Table 2. Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway enrichment analysis of an ampullary cancer microarray using the Database for Annotation, Visualization and Integrated Discovery (DAVID). This table contains only pathways with p values that ranged 0.0001~0.05. KEGG Pathway p value Genes Pentose and 1.50E-04 UGT1A6, CRYL1, UGT1A8, AKR1B1, UGT2B11, UGT2A3, glucuronate UGT2B10, UGT2B7, XYLB interconversions Drug metabolism 1.63E-04 CYP3A4, XDH, UGT1A6, CYP3A5, CES2, CYP3A7, UGT1A8, NAT2, UGT2B11, DPYD, UGT2A3, UGT2B10, UGT2B7 Maturity-onset 2.43E-04 HNF1A, HNF4A, SLC2A2, PKLR, NEUROD1, HNF4G, diabetes of the PDX1, NR5A2, NKX2-2 young Starch and sucrose 6.03E-04 GBA3, UGT1A6, G6PC, UGT1A8, ENPP3, MGAM, SI, metabolism -
Entrez Symbols Name Termid Termdesc 117553 Uba3,Ube1c
Entrez Symbols Name TermID TermDesc 117553 Uba3,Ube1c ubiquitin-like modifier activating enzyme 3 GO:0016881 acid-amino acid ligase activity 299002 G2e3,RGD1310263 G2/M-phase specific E3 ubiquitin ligase GO:0016881 acid-amino acid ligase activity 303614 RGD1310067,Smurf2 SMAD specific E3 ubiquitin protein ligase 2 GO:0016881 acid-amino acid ligase activity 308669 Herc2 hect domain and RLD 2 GO:0016881 acid-amino acid ligase activity 309331 Uhrf2 ubiquitin-like with PHD and ring finger domains 2 GO:0016881 acid-amino acid ligase activity 316395 Hecw2 HECT, C2 and WW domain containing E3 ubiquitin protein ligase 2 GO:0016881 acid-amino acid ligase activity 361866 Hace1 HECT domain and ankyrin repeat containing, E3 ubiquitin protein ligase 1 GO:0016881 acid-amino acid ligase activity 117029 Ccr5,Ckr5,Cmkbr5 chemokine (C-C motif) receptor 5 GO:0003779 actin binding 117538 Waspip,Wip,Wipf1 WAS/WASL interacting protein family, member 1 GO:0003779 actin binding 117557 TM30nm,Tpm3,Tpm5 tropomyosin 3, gamma GO:0003779 actin binding 24779 MGC93554,Slc4a1 solute carrier family 4 (anion exchanger), member 1 GO:0003779 actin binding 24851 Alpha-tm,Tma2,Tmsa,Tpm1 tropomyosin 1, alpha GO:0003779 actin binding 25132 Myo5b,Myr6 myosin Vb GO:0003779 actin binding 25152 Map1a,Mtap1a microtubule-associated protein 1A GO:0003779 actin binding 25230 Add3 adducin 3 (gamma) GO:0003779 actin binding 25386 AQP-2,Aqp2,MGC156502,aquaporin-2aquaporin 2 (collecting duct) GO:0003779 actin binding 25484 MYR5,Myo1e,Myr3 myosin IE GO:0003779 actin binding 25576 14-3-3e1,MGC93547,Ywhah -
Aquaporin Channels in the Heart—Physiology and Pathophysiology
International Journal of Molecular Sciences Review Aquaporin Channels in the Heart—Physiology and Pathophysiology Arie O. Verkerk 1,2,* , Elisabeth M. Lodder 2 and Ronald Wilders 1 1 Department of Medical Biology, Amsterdam University Medical Centers, University of Amsterdam, 1105 AZ Amsterdam, The Netherlands; [email protected] 2 Department of Experimental Cardiology, Amsterdam University Medical Centers, University of Amsterdam, 1105 AZ Amsterdam, The Netherlands; [email protected] * Correspondence: [email protected]; Tel.: +31-20-5664670 Received: 29 March 2019; Accepted: 23 April 2019; Published: 25 April 2019 Abstract: Mammalian aquaporins (AQPs) are transmembrane channels expressed in a large variety of cells and tissues throughout the body. They are known as water channels, but they also facilitate the transport of small solutes, gasses, and monovalent cations. To date, 13 different AQPs, encoded by the genes AQP0–AQP12, have been identified in mammals, which regulate various important biological functions in kidney, brain, lung, digestive system, eye, and skin. Consequently, dysfunction of AQPs is involved in a wide variety of disorders. AQPs are also present in the heart, even with a specific distribution pattern in cardiomyocytes, but whether their presence is essential for proper (electro)physiological cardiac function has not intensively been studied. This review summarizes recent findings and highlights the involvement of AQPs in normal and pathological cardiac function. We conclude that AQPs are at least implicated in proper cardiac water homeostasis and energy balance as well as heart failure and arsenic cardiotoxicity. However, this review also demonstrates that many effects of cardiac AQPs, especially on excitation-contraction coupling processes, are virtually unexplored. -
A Computational Approach for Defining a Signature of Β-Cell Golgi Stress in Diabetes Mellitus
Page 1 of 781 Diabetes A Computational Approach for Defining a Signature of β-Cell Golgi Stress in Diabetes Mellitus Robert N. Bone1,6,7, Olufunmilola Oyebamiji2, Sayali Talware2, Sharmila Selvaraj2, Preethi Krishnan3,6, Farooq Syed1,6,7, Huanmei Wu2, Carmella Evans-Molina 1,3,4,5,6,7,8* Departments of 1Pediatrics, 3Medicine, 4Anatomy, Cell Biology & Physiology, 5Biochemistry & Molecular Biology, the 6Center for Diabetes & Metabolic Diseases, and the 7Herman B. Wells Center for Pediatric Research, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, IN 46202; 2Department of BioHealth Informatics, Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis, Indianapolis, IN, 46202; 8Roudebush VA Medical Center, Indianapolis, IN 46202. *Corresponding Author(s): Carmella Evans-Molina, MD, PhD ([email protected]) Indiana University School of Medicine, 635 Barnhill Drive, MS 2031A, Indianapolis, IN 46202, Telephone: (317) 274-4145, Fax (317) 274-4107 Running Title: Golgi Stress Response in Diabetes Word Count: 4358 Number of Figures: 6 Keywords: Golgi apparatus stress, Islets, β cell, Type 1 diabetes, Type 2 diabetes 1 Diabetes Publish Ahead of Print, published online August 20, 2020 Diabetes Page 2 of 781 ABSTRACT The Golgi apparatus (GA) is an important site of insulin processing and granule maturation, but whether GA organelle dysfunction and GA stress are present in the diabetic β-cell has not been tested. We utilized an informatics-based approach to develop a transcriptional signature of β-cell GA stress using existing RNA sequencing and microarray datasets generated using human islets from donors with diabetes and islets where type 1(T1D) and type 2 diabetes (T2D) had been modeled ex vivo. To narrow our results to GA-specific genes, we applied a filter set of 1,030 genes accepted as GA associated. -
Patient-Based Cross-Platform Comparison of Oligonucleotide Microarray Expression Profiles
Laboratory Investigation (2005) 85, 1024–1039 & 2005 USCAP, Inc All rights reserved 0023-6837/05 $30.00 www.laboratoryinvestigation.org Patient-based cross-platform comparison of oligonucleotide microarray expression profiles Joerg Schlingemann1,*, Negusse Habtemichael2,*, Carina Ittrich3, Grischa Toedt1, Heidi Kramer1, Markus Hambek4, Rainald Knecht4, Peter Lichter1, Roland Stauber2 and Meinhard Hahn1 1Division of Molecular Genetics, Deutsches Krebsforschungszentrum, Heidelberg, Germany; 2Chemotherapeutisches Forschungsinstitut Georg-Speyer-Haus, Frankfurt am Main, Germany; 3Central Unit Biostatistics, Deutsches Krebsforschungszentrum, Heidelberg, Germany and 4Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Universita¨tsklinik, Johann-Wolfgang-Goethe-Universita¨t Frankfurt, Frankfurt, Germany The comparison of gene expression measurements obtained with different technical approaches is of substantial interest in order to clarify whether interplatform differences may conceal biologically significant information. To address this concern, we analyzed gene expression in a set of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma patients, using both spotted oligonucleotide microarrays made from a large collection of 70-mer probes and commercial arrays produced by in situ synthesis of sets of multiple 25-mer oligonucleotides per gene. Expression measurements were compared for 4425 genes represented on both platforms, which revealed strong correlations between the corresponding data sets. Of note, a global tendency towards smaller absolute ratios was observed when -
Cdk15 Igfals Lingo4 Gjb3 Tpbg Lrrc38 Serpinf1 Apod Trp73 Lama4 Chrnd Col9a1col11a1col5a2 Fgl2 Pitx2 Col2a1 Col3a1 Lamb3 Col24a1
Bnc2 Wdr72 Ptchd1 Abtb2 Spag5 Zfp385a Trim17 Ier2 Il1rapl1 Tpd52l1 Fam20a Car8 Syt5 Plxnc1 Sema3e Ndrg4 Snph St6galnac5 Mcpt2 B3galt2 Sphkap Arhgap24 Prss34 Lhfpl2 Ermap Rnf165 Shroom1 Grm4 Mobp Dock2 Tmem9b Slc35d3 Otud7b Serpinb3a Sh3d19 Syt6 Zan Trim67 Clec18a Mcoln1 Tob1 Slc45a2 Pcdhb9 Pcdh17 Plscr1 Gpr143 Cela1 Frem1 Sema3f Lgi2 Igsf9 Fjx1 Cpne4 Adgb Depdc7 Gzmm C1qtnf5 Capn11 Sema3c H2-T22 Unc5c Sytl4 Galnt5 Sytl2 Arhgap11a Pcdha1 Cdh20 Slc35f2 Trim29 B3gnt5 Dock5 Trim9 Padi4 Pcdh19 Abi2 Cldn11 Slitrk1 Fam13a Nrgn Cpa4 Clmp Il1rap Trpm1 Fat4 Nexn Pmel Mmp15 Fat3 H2-M5 Prss38 Wdr41 Prtg Mlana Mettl22 Tnrc6b Cdh6 Sema3b Ptgfrn Cldn1 Cntn4 Bcl2a1b Capn6 Capn5 Pcdhb19 Tcf15 Bmf Rgs8 Tecrl Tyrp1 Rhot1 Rnf123 Cldn6 Adam9 Hlx Rilpl1 Disp1 Atcay Vwc2 Fat2 Srpx2 Cldn3 Unc13c Creb3l1 Rab39b Robo3 Gpnmb Bves Orai2 Slc22a2 Prss8 Cdh10 Scg3 Adam33 Nyx Dchs1 Chmp4c Syt9 Ap1m2 Megf10 Cthrc1 Penk Igsf9b Akap2 Ltbp3 Dnmbp Tff2 Pnoc Vldlr Cpa3 Snx18 Capn3 Btla Htr1b Gm17231 Pcdh9Rab27a Grm8 Cnih2 Scube2 Id2 Reep1 Cpeb3 Mmp16 Slc18b1 Snx33 Clcn5 Cckbr Pkp2 Drp2 Mapk8ip1 Lrrc3b Cxcl14 Zfhx3 Esrp1 Prx Dock3 Sec14l1 Prokr1 Pstpip2 Usp2 Cpvl Syn2 Ntn1 Ptger1 Rxfp3 Tyr Snap91 Htr1d Mtnr1a Gadd45g Mlph Drd4 Foxc2 Cldn4 Birc7 Cdh17 Twist2 Scnn1b Abcc4 Pkp1 Dlk2 Rab3b Amph Mreg Il33 Slit2 Hpse Micu1 Creb3l2 Dsp Lifr S1pr5 Krt15 Svep1 Ahnak Kcnh1 Sphk1 Vwce Clcf1 Ptch2 Pmp22 Sfrp1 Sema6a Lfng Hs3st5 Efcab1 Tlr5 Muc5acKalrn Vwa2 Fzd8 Lpar6 Bmp5 Slc16a9 Cacng4 Arvcf Igfbp2 Mrvi1 Dusp15 Krt5 Atp13a5 Dsg1a Kcnj14 Edn3Memo1 Ngef Prickle2 Cma1 Alx4 Bmp3 Blnk GastAgtr2 -
The Chondrocyte Channelome: a Novel Ion Channel Candidate in the Pathogenesis of Pectus Deformities
Old Dominion University ODU Digital Commons Biological Sciences Theses & Dissertations Biological Sciences Summer 2017 The Chondrocyte Channelome: A Novel Ion Channel Candidate in the Pathogenesis of Pectus Deformities Anthony J. Asmar Old Dominion University, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.odu.edu/biology_etds Part of the Biology Commons, Molecular Biology Commons, and the Physiology Commons Recommended Citation Asmar, Anthony J.. "The Chondrocyte Channelome: A Novel Ion Channel Candidate in the Pathogenesis of Pectus Deformities" (2017). Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Dissertation, Biological Sciences, Old Dominion University, DOI: 10.25777/pyha-7838 https://digitalcommons.odu.edu/biology_etds/19 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Biological Sciences at ODU Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Biological Sciences Theses & Dissertations by an authorized administrator of ODU Digital Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. THE CHONDROCYTE CHANNELOME: A NOVEL ION CHANNEL CANDIDATE IN THE PATHOGENESIS OF PECTUS DEFORMITIES by Anthony J. Asmar B.S. Biology May 2010, Virginia Polytechnic Institute M.S. Biology May 2013, Old Dominion University A Dissertation Submitted to the Faculty of Old Dominion University in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY BIOMEDICAL SCIENCES OLD DOMINION UNIVERSITY August 2017 Approved by: Christopher Osgood (Co-Director) Michael Stacey (Co-Director) Lesley Greene (Member) Andrei Pakhomov (Member) Jing He (Member) ABSTRACT THE CHONDROCYTE CHANNELOME: A NOVEL ION CHANNEL CANDIDATE IN THE PATHOGENESIS OF PECTUS DEFORMITIES Anthony J. Asmar Old Dominion University, 2017 Co-Directors: Dr. Christopher Osgood Dr. Michael Stacey Costal cartilage is a type of rod-like hyaline cartilage connecting the ribs to the sternum. -
Research Article Microarray-Based Comparisons of Ion Channel Expression Patterns: Human Keratinocytes to Reprogrammed Hipscs To
Hindawi Publishing Corporation Stem Cells International Volume 2013, Article ID 784629, 25 pages http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2013/784629 Research Article Microarray-Based Comparisons of Ion Channel Expression Patterns: Human Keratinocytes to Reprogrammed hiPSCs to Differentiated Neuronal and Cardiac Progeny Leonhard Linta,1 Marianne Stockmann,1 Qiong Lin,2 André Lechel,3 Christian Proepper,1 Tobias M. Boeckers,1 Alexander Kleger,3 and Stefan Liebau1 1 InstituteforAnatomyCellBiology,UlmUniversity,Albert-EinsteinAllee11,89081Ulm,Germany 2 Institute for Biomedical Engineering, Department of Cell Biology, RWTH Aachen, Pauwelstrasse 30, 52074 Aachen, Germany 3 Department of Internal Medicine I, Ulm University, Albert-Einstein Allee 11, 89081 Ulm, Germany Correspondence should be addressed to Alexander Kleger; [email protected] and Stefan Liebau; [email protected] Received 31 January 2013; Accepted 6 March 2013 Academic Editor: Michael Levin Copyright © 2013 Leonhard Linta et al. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Ion channels are involved in a large variety of cellular processes including stem cell differentiation. Numerous families of ion channels are present in the organism which can be distinguished by means of, for example, ion selectivity, gating mechanism, composition, or cell biological function. To characterize the distinct expression of this group of ion channels we have compared the mRNA expression levels of ion channel genes between human keratinocyte-derived induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs) and their somatic cell source, keratinocytes from plucked human hair. This comparison revealed that 26% of the analyzed probes showed an upregulation of ion channels in hiPSCs while just 6% were downregulated. -
Identification of Key Genes and Pathways Involved in Response To
Deng et al. Biol Res (2018) 51:25 https://doi.org/10.1186/s40659-018-0174-7 Biological Research RESEARCH ARTICLE Open Access Identifcation of key genes and pathways involved in response to pain in goat and sheep by transcriptome sequencing Xiuling Deng1,2†, Dong Wang3†, Shenyuan Wang1, Haisheng Wang2 and Huanmin Zhou1* Abstract Purpose: This aim of this study was to investigate the key genes and pathways involved in the response to pain in goat and sheep by transcriptome sequencing. Methods: Chronic pain was induced with the injection of the complete Freund’s adjuvant (CFA) in sheep and goats. The animals were divided into four groups: CFA-treated sheep, control sheep, CFA-treated goat, and control goat groups (n 3 in each group). The dorsal root ganglions of these animals were isolated and used for the construction of a cDNA= library and transcriptome sequencing. Diferentially expressed genes (DEGs) were identifed in CFA-induced sheep and goats and gene ontology (GO) enrichment analysis was performed. Results: In total, 1748 and 2441 DEGs were identifed in CFA-treated goat and sheep, respectively. The DEGs identi- fed in CFA-treated goats, such as C-C motif chemokine ligand 27 (CCL27), glutamate receptor 2 (GRIA2), and sodium voltage-gated channel alpha subunit 3 (SCN3A), were mainly enriched in GO functions associated with N-methyl- D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor, infammatory response, and immune response. The DEGs identifed in CFA-treated sheep, such as gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA)-related DEGs (gamma-aminobutyric acid type A receptor gamma 3 subunit [GABRG3], GABRB2, and GABRB1), SCN9A, and transient receptor potential cation channel subfamily V member 1 (TRPV1), were mainly enriched in GO functions related to neuroactive ligand-receptor interaction, NMDA receptor, and defense response. -
The Caenorhabditis Elegans Excretory System: a Model for Tubulogenesis, Cell Fate Specification, and Plasticity
| WORMBOOK CELL AND ORGANELLE BIOLOGY The Caenorhabditis elegans Excretory System: A Model for Tubulogenesis, Cell Fate Specification, and Plasticity Meera V. Sundaram*,1 and Matthew Buechner† *Department of Genetics, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104 and †Department of Molecular Biosciences, University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas 66045 ABSTRACT The excretory system of the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans is a superb model of tubular organogenesis involving a minimum of cells. The system consists of just three unicellular tubes (canal, duct, and pore), a secretory gland, and two associated neurons. Just as in more complex organs, cells of the excretory system must first adopt specific identities and then coordinate diverse processes to form tubes of appropriate topology, shape, connectivity, and physiological function. The unicellular topology of excretory tubes, their varied and sometimes complex shapes, and the dynamic reprogramming of cell identity and remodeling of tube connec- tivity that occur during larval development are particularly fascinating features of this organ. The physiological roles of the excretory system in osmoregulation and other aspects of the animal’s life cycle are only beginning to be explored. The cellular mechanisms and molecular pathways used to build and shape excretory tubes appear similar to those used in both unicellular and multicellular tubes in more complex organs, such as the vertebrate vascular system and kidney, making this simple organ system a